Before the “back to school” frenzy kicks in, we thought it would be a good chance to discuss another form of architectural frenzy in the September edition of the visualogue.

It is quite obvious how Jeddah has become a major site of experimentation for that ubiquitous archetype of the latter half of the 20^th century, the Mall. It seems we are approaching a ratio of 1 mall per block, and not only that, the mall has even replaced our perception of public space, and has come to represent for us, the park, the square, the alley, i.e. the whole notion of public gathering.

Our guest for the September edition is Arch. Pablo Soto from Barcelona, who specializes in retail design, and is currently practicing in Jeddah. He has worked on major retail projects throughout Europe and the Middle East, and has also  taught several Master’s seminars on Retail Architecture and Commercial Urbanism in Barcelona.

Join us as we dissect the onslaught of consumerism in architecture and the architecture of consumerism…

by pablo soto